Category Archives: Jewish Cemeteries

A Church and a Synagogue come to Life again

Posted on by under Jewish Cemeteries, Northern Bukovina

Our penultimate day in Chernivtsi (Czernowitz). I show my friends Ingo and Sabine the upper part of the city, which they do not know yet. We make interesting discoveries at the Sacred Heart Church (Herz Jesu Kirche). In the afternoon we meet with the volunteers who work at the Jewish cemetery for a trip to Sadhora (Sadagora). There are good news from Sadagora.

Czernowitz – Herz Jesu Kiche
Czernowitz – Herz Jesu Kiche
Sadagora – Jewish cemetery – Ohel of the Friedman family
Sadagora – Jewish cemetery – Ohel of the Friedman family
Sadagora – Jewish cemetery
Sadagora – Hasidic court

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A trip through Bucovina

Posted on by under Jewish Cemeteries, Northern Bukovina

Sunday is a free day for the volunteers who clear the Jewish cemetery of Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) of shrubs and vines. Today, an excursion is on the agenda. Vashkivtsi, Vyzhnytsia, Kosiv, Storozhynets and the local Jewish cemeteries.

Vyzhnytsia Jewish cemetery
Vashkivtsi Jewish cemetery
Kosiv – Jewish cemetery
Kosiv – volunteers having a break
Storozhynets – Jewish cemetery
Storozhynets – Jewish cemetery
Kosiv – Jewish cemetery
Vyzhnytsia Jewish cemetery
Storozhynets – Jewish cemetery
Kosiv – Jewish cemetery
Vashkivtsi Jewish cemetery
Vyzhnytsia Jewish cemetery
Storozhynets – Jewish cemetery
Vashkivtsi Jewish cemetery
Vyzhnytsia Jewish cemetery

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Two Cemeteries and an Adventure

Posted on by under Jewish Cemeteries, Northern Bukovina

Today, the work camp of SVIT Ukraine has begun at the Jewish cemetery of Chernivtsi (Czernowitz). 14 young people will clean the cemetery of shrubs and vines for the next three weeks. I met the volunteers this morning. In the early afternoon I was searching of traces of the old Jewish cemetery together with Sylvia de Swaan. A little adventure!

volunteers at the cemetery
volunteers at the ceme
volunteers at the ceme
volunteers at the ceme
Czernowitz – old Jewish cemetery
Czernowitz – old Jewish cemetery
Czernowitz – old Jewish cemetery
Czernowitz – old Jewish cemetery

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The Forgotten Cemetery of Czernowitz

Posted on by under Jewish Cemeteries, Northern Bukovina

The Jewish cemetery of Czernowitz (Chernivtsi) is famous – it attracts many people who are looking for the graves of relatives. Even greater is the number of cultural tourists who visit the cemetery. But there was a second – much older – cemetery, of which was said that it had been destroyed in the Soviet period. However, the remains of this cemetery still exist. They need to be examined and protected.

Czernowitz old Jewish cemetery, wall made from grave stones, © Mykola Kushnir
Czernowitz old Jewish cemetery, grave stones, © Mykola Kushnir
Czernowitz old Jewish cemetery, fragment of a grave stone, © Mykola Kushnir
Czernowitz old Jewish cemetery, textile factory, © Mykola Kushnir

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It’s all gone, it’s still there

Posted on by under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues

Galicia and Bukovina are covered with partially or totally destroyed Jewish cemeteries. The grave stones were abused as building material during the German occupation and the years of Soviet rule. However, history does not just disappear. During construction works fragments of Jewish grave stones come to light. These stones raise questions – first of all the question of how we want to deal with the past.

Lviv – fragments of Jewish grave stones, April 2013
Lviv – fragments of Jewish grave stones, April 2013
Lviv – fragments of Jewish grave stones, April 2013
Lviv – fragments of Jewish grave stones, October 2012
Lviv – fragments of Jewish grave stones, October 2012
Lviv – fragments of Jewish grave stones, misused as cobblestones, October 2012
Lviv – fragments of Jewish grave stones, misused as cobblestones, October 2012
Ivano-Frankivsk – fragments of Jewish grave stones, May 2013
Ivano-Frankivsk – fragments of Jewish grave stones, May 2013
Rohatyn – fragments of Jewish grave stones, April 2013
Ivano-Frankivsk – fragments of Jewish grave stones, May 2013
Rohatyn – fragments of Jewish grave stones, April 2013
Rohatyn – fragments of Jewish grave stones, April 2013
Rohatyn – fragments of Jewish grave stones, April 2013

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Galicia and Bukovina in Black and White (2)

Posted on by under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Northern Bukovina, Synagogues

Here it is, the second half of the selection of black and white photos from the trip through Galicia and Bukovina in April and May 2013. The journey finally comes to an end and something new starts.

Ivano-Frankivsk – Jewish cemetery
Ivano-Frankivsk – Jewish cemetery
Ivano-Frankivsk – Jewish cemetery
Ivano-Frankivsk – Jewish cemetery
Kalush – Jewish cemetery
Kalush – Jewish cemetery
Kuty – Jewish cemetery
Lysynychi – mass grave site
Lysynychi – mass grave site
Nadvirna – Jewish cemetery
Pidhaitsi – synagogue
Pidhaitsi – synagogue
Pidhaitsi – Jewish cemetery
Pidhaitsi – Jewish cemetery
Pidhaitsi – Jewish cemetery
Pidhaitsi – Jewish cemetery
Rohatyn – old Jewish cemetery
Rohatyn – old Jewish cemetery
Rohatyn – new Jewish cemetery

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Galicia and Bukovina in Black and White (1)

Posted on by under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Northern Bukovina, Synagogues

Analog photography is not for the impatient. Through digital cameras we are used to check a picture directly. Images on film are different. Two weeks after the trip through Galicia and Bukovina I got the developed black and white films and the scans of the negatives. A first impression and a first selection.

Busk – Jewish cemetery
Busk – Jewish cemetery
Busk – Jewish cemetery
Busk – Jewish cemetery
Busk – Jewish cemetery
Brody – Jewish cemetery
Brody – Jewish cemetery
Brody – Jewish cemetery
Brody – Jewish cemetery
Bolekhiv – Jewish cemetery
Bolekhiv – Jewish cemetery
Bolekhiv – synagogue
Berezhani – Jewish cemetery
Berezhani – Jewish cemetery
Berezhani – synagogue

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Journey through Galicia and Bukovina in May and April 2013 – Some Thoughts

Posted on by under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Northern Bukovina, Synagogues

Two weeks I traveled with my friends Petra and Achim through Eastern Galicia and Northern Bukovina. It was a very intense and emotional journey to the heritage of a vanished Jewish world. We  visited 27 towns and villages, many spots made a deep impression. With some distance I would like to summarize some experiences and reflect them. What did we see? Who commemorates what and how? And I want to thank all those people who enabled the journey in many different ways and observed it with passion.

Conservation problems at the well maintained cemetery of Busk
Conservation works in Brody
Destructions in Rohatyn
Destructions in Berezhani
Remains of the residence of the Sadagora Rebbe
Well maintained cemetery in Vyzhnytsia
Destructions and renewal works in Kuty
Destructions in Ivano-Frankivsk
Well maintained cemetery in Kalush
Remains of the synagogue in Bolekhiv

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From Ivano-Frankivsk to Stryi

Posted on by under Eastern Galicia, Jewish Cemeteries, Synagogues

May 3. From Ivano-Frankivsk our travel route continues north. Halych, Kalush and Bolekhiv are on our way. No place will leave us untouched.

Ivano-Frankivsk – Temple Synagogue and Jewish hotel
Ivano-Frankivsk – Temple Synagogue
Ivano-Frankivsk – Temple Synagogue
Ivano-Frankivsk – Jewish cemetery
Ivano-Frankivsk – Jewish cemetery
Ivano-Frankivsk – Jewish cemetery
Ivano-Frankivsk – Jewish cemetery
Halych – Karaite cemetery
Halych – Karaite cemetery
Halych – Karaite cemetery
Kalush – Jewish cemetery
Kalush – Jewish cemetery
Kalush – Jewish cemetery
Bolechiv – synagogue
Bolechiv – Jewish cemetery
Bolechiv – Jewish cemetery
Bolechiv – Jewish cemetery
Bolechiv – Jewish cemetery
Bolechiv – Jewish cemetery
Bolechiv – Jewish cemetery

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